HIGHLIGHTS

After the summit level meeting between India and Japan, the trilateral meeting among India, Japan and United States also focused on the increasing security threat and instability in the Korean Peninsula.

The trilateral foreign ministerial meeting of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj with her American counterpart Rex Tillerson and Japanese counterpart focused on various regional and global issues but the main issue remained "maritime security, connectivity and proliferation issues were exchanged".

The Ministry of External Affairs statement on the meeting that was held on Tuesday on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York said, "The Ministers emphasized the need for ensuring freedom of navigation, respect for international law and peaceful resolution of disputes. On connectivity initiatives, the importance of basing them on universally recognized international norms, prudent financing and respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity was underlined".

All three nations have greatly been stressed either by the actions of DPRK (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) or the territorial aggressiveness of China. Hence, the unanimous voice in ensuring respect for international order.

While all leaders condemned the action of North Korea, India reiterated its stand of looking at the root cause and highlighted nations responsible for such capability that North Korea possesses.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj "deplored DPRK's recent actions and stated that its proliferation linkages must be explored and those involved be held accountable", the press statement read.

Earlier on Tuesday, US flew four stealth fighter jets and two bombers over the Korean peninsula calling it "mock bombing drills". These were the first such flights since the powerful nuclear test conducted by North Korea which has been under tremendous sanctions.

But despite the American move and the hard sanctions, North Korea remains undeterred. Its Foreign Ministry in a statement said, "it is a foolish dream to hope that the sanctions could work with the DPRK while the sanctions have failed to stop it from becoming a full-fledged nuclear weapons state and making rapid progress in the building of an economic power for more than half a century."